Families across the United States face a variety of challenges securing early care and education (ECE) for their children. The supply and price of ECE programs in local areas tell part but not all the access story for families. Describing access across multiple dimensions provides decision makers with a deeper understanding of families' ECE needs and emphasizes the need for multi-faceted policy solutions. Yet measuring and comparing access from different perspectives requires available data and a clear measurement approach that can be conveyed concisely. This report describes an exploratory study using data from the 2012 National Study of Early Care and Education (NSECE) to model the complexity of ECE access and to consider how ECE access varies for families across the United States. The purpose of the research in this report was twofold: first, to examine how access varies across dimensions and for children and families with different characteristics; and second, to test a new research method using national data to capture families' experiences. The benefit of this national approach is that it uses common data across local areas to characterize and compare access. Findings from this research method can be reviewed with insights from other access measurement strategies including research conducted to identify child care deserts.